


Like a Bad Rash

by sullacat



Series: Across the Universe [1]
Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: Best Friends, Falling In Love, First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-16
Updated: 2011-04-16
Packaged: 2017-10-18 04:55:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/185264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sullacat/pseuds/sullacat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Throughout his life Jim just sort of appeared when least expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like a Bad Rash

**Author's Note:**

> No infringement intended, they are not mine, though I am theirs.
> 
> Chronologically the first in the Across the Universe series, though it was the last written. I'm quirky like that.

_stardate 2258.47_

 

"Inconvenient," Bones told him.

"Unexpected," Jim countered.

It was their private joke.

* * *

It shouldn't have been a surprise. Even his birth had been out of the blue. Winona had planned to be home, safe in Iowa by the time her second baby arrived, but Jim had pushed his way out three weeks early, as if he'd heard there was a fight going on out there and he wanted in on it.

Throughout his life Jim just sort of appeared when least expected.

"Like a bad rash," Bones told him.

"Like a pleasant surprise," Jim countered.

There were little things, like showing up and dragging him out drinking on the night before a big exam. Or knocking on the door of Bones' dorm room with a broken rib or busted nose as just as Bones was heading out the door to make it to class, or a lecture, or even the occasional date.

But there were good times, too. One year, the first time Bones missed his little girl's birthday, he'd ended up getting arrested for fighting. Jim had showed up out of nowhere (probably following him), and not only convinced the cops to drop the charges, he'd made sure Bones was never alone on Joanna's birthday again.

Jim showing up on the bridge of the Enterprise had certainly been unexpected for Captain Pike and the rest of the bridge crew, but at least then Bones knew _why_ he was there - hell, it was his fault, if you wanted to look at it like that.

But when Jim showed up a _second time_ , after having his ass tossed out the side of the ship by the Vulcan, when he just _appeared_ , and with some crazy Scot trailing behind him - Bones wondered then and there if there was anything Jim couldn't do.

* * *

Bones knew with great certainty there was something _he_ couldn't do, and that was get out of this blind date. Two weeks until he was done with the Academy, two weeks until he was on a starship or some research post somewhere, wherever the hell they placed him. Two weeks and he wouldn't have to do favors for old Starfleet Admirals who wanted safe company for their great-granddaughters.

It took all he had not to stare at old Admiral Archer and ask why - why _anyone_ would think that an older, bitter, divorced cadet would be anyone's idea of an ideal dinner companion, but the Admiral had helped him out once in the past, and in the end Bones couldn't get out of it. Hell, the incident on the Enterprise had only seemed to make him more appropriate in the old guy's eyes. Whatever, he told himself. It was dinner, just one night.

Checking his pockets for his credits and comm device, Bones sighed deeply and headed out the door of his dormitory in the direction of the tram to take him into the city.

He was half way across the campus when he saw Jim walking toward his dormitory. You didn't have to be the guy's best friend for three years to notice that something was wrong, despite the changes in Jim since the Narada. For one, he's walking too fast. Jim Kirk tended to stroll, all the better to notice people around him. Also, he was holding his right arm close to his body. Too close to his body.

Bones stopped walking as he watched Jim. _Fuck..._ He really didn't need this right now, but he can't leave Jim like his; he never could, and that was turning into the story of his life.

That thought lingered at the back of his brain and made his heart twist until he pushed it down deep, where all those unspeakable thoughts he'd begun harboring for his best friend belonged.

Turning away from his destination, he jogged toward Jim. "Captain Kirk," he called out, smirking as Jim turned around at that, shaking his head with a laugh.

"Hey there, Bones," Jim called out, forehead furrowing as Bones got closer, then smiling more openly. "Don't you shine up nice when you want," noticing Bones' dark trousers and button-down shirt.

"What's wrong with your arm?" Bones asked, ignoring Jim's comments.

Jim shrugged, or tried to with one arm, to little success. "Just a little sore. Had a rough training exercise with Sulu," he admitted.

"Of all the... you just got patched up from what happened out there, what are you thinking?" Bones asked, wishing Jim didn't look so hurt at the tone of his voice. Bones reached out to touch his shoulder and frowned as Jim winced. "It's dislocated, isn't it?" he growled.

Jim nodded with a sigh. "Yeah."

"And you're not heading toward the infirmary because..."

"It's not that big a deal. I can bang it back into place once I get to my room."

"Fuck, Jim, that's barbaric." What Jim had against the infirmary Bones didn't know... and of course, Bones didn't have his medical bag on him. "C'mon," he told him, marching him toward the infirmary.

Jim gave him a look, but didn't protest, especially as Bones waved them past cadet registration and into one of the bays. "Sit," he told him, watching as Jim hopped up onto the table. Within minutes it was fixed. "You can't fool around with shit like this, not anymore, alright?" Bones grumbled softly at him, as he slid his fingers up and down Jim's upper arm, the touches lasting longer than they had any right to.

Jim looked up at him, eyes sort of clouded over. "You're awfully dressed up."

Looking over at the clock on the wall, Bones groaned.

"What's wrong?"

"Had plans tonight, kid," Bones answered before heading off to the computer terminal. He made a quick call to his date and apologized for his tardiness, only to find out that she'd found some company on her own; she thanked him but was going out with her new friend that evening, if it was alright with him. _Hell yeah_ , he thought to himself as he turned back to Jim, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sorry about that," Jim said, looking contrite. "If you've got to go, go, Bones," he pushed him. "I'm alright."

"Change of plans," he answered with a sigh. Jim's face looked as if he didn't understand. "Come on, time to get out of here."

"So you're not going out?"

"Nope. Don't worry about it, it's okay," he told Jim, giving him a tired grin. "I didn't really want to go anyway."

Jim looked as if he wasn't sure he believed him. "Bones, you're all shined up... I tell you what," he said slowly, his face opening up until it was grinning. "Have dinner with me."

Bones just stared at him for a minute.

"I mean, not like this," Jim said, looking down at his t-shirt and jeans. "Let me get changed and we'll go somewhere nice, alright?"

"Sure," Bones agreed, like he always did, and followed Jim to his dorm room. Settling himself on a chair, he waited for Jim to get ready, picking up one of Jim's PADDs, thumbing through it.

He read up on the forty-seven sub-orders of the Prime Directive, finding it strangely interesting that this was something Jim knew all about, that he excelled at. There was a juxtaposition in his head - his fun, child-like friend Jim and that man who took control of the Enterprise and defeated Nero and basically saved the planet...

He hadn't noticed the shower turning off until Jim came out, towel wrapped around his waist. He grabbed some clothes from his closet and headed back to the bathroom, and Bones pretended to read for a few minutes more, unable to get the picture of wet Jim in his towel out of his mind. Bones was reminded of yet another uncomfortable, _inconvenient_ aspect of their friendship that had evolved recently; that who ever Jim was - the kid or the Captain - Bones had fallen in love with him.

They ended up in a little family place in Chinatown where the food was delicious and the atmosphere even better. Jim had worn a pair of khaki trousers and a gray pullover sweater, and Bones wondered vaguely if there was any color that didn't make Jim's eyes look like they were on fire. For a moment Bones wondered if he'd said that out loud, because just as the thought crossed his mind, Jim looked up at him and stared.

Long lingering looks aside, it was a good evening. They talked, laughed, and recalled some stories from their three years together. Neither said anything about the Enterprise, not until their plates were nearly emptied and they were on their second beer. "What have you heard?" is all Bones asked.

Jim sat back and exhaled. "Most likely scenario? We're given our choice of ship." Jim pushed the last bits of food around his plate and looked over at Bones. "Enterprise, right?" he asked, visibly relaxing at Bones' nod of the head. "Good. Yes. When is the medical staff being briefed about posting decisions?" he wondered, leaning back in his chair, watching Bones as he opened his fortune cookie.

"Tomorrow morning," Bones said, laughing as he tossed his fortune on the table.

"Come on, what does it say?" Jim asked, picking up his cookie and opening it with a snort.

Bones picked it up again. "Smiling often can make you look and feel younger." He gave Jim a knowing look. "What the fuck does that even mean?"

"It means you have a pretty smile, Leonard," Jim retorted, "and you should show it more." He read his own fortune with a quirked eyebrow.

"Well, spit it out," Bones said, finishing his beer.

"Love is for the lucky and the brave." Jim shrugged, adding it to Bones' on the table. "Whatever."

"You don't like it?" Bones asked as they left the restaurant.

"Being lucky and brave hasn't helped me one bit so far, has it?" Jim replied.

"Didn't know you were looking for that sort of thing," Bones retorted, a little sarcastic.

Jim caught Bones' eyes, but didn't answer as they walked toward the tram. In fact, he didn't say anything until Bones asked about how Sulu was doing, and Jim, seemingly grateful for the change of topic, began relating stories of what he'd found out from the other man.

 

Heading back to the dorms, Jim continued to talk aloud, wondering what positions on board would be open. He thought that he'd be a shoo-in for the First Officer position, but they were being ridiculously tight-lipped on who the captain would be. Bones knew from the medical gossip that Pike wouldn't be out of therapy in time to take Enterprise, and had already mentioned this to Jim. So he just listened as Jim rattled on, adding what Sulu had heard to what he knew and what Bones had told him, but as they walked, Bones' mind drifted back to another conversation he'd had with Jim just a few days before.

 

It was that day - the day Nero attacked, the day Vulcan was destroyed, the day they saved the planet. One terrible day... the Narada had finally been annihilated, but still, it was five or six hours after it was all over before Bones saw Jim. He'd made it to the medical bay eventually, after getting everyone else settled on board, seeing to the damage that had been done to the ship, making sure all injured personnel's duties were being covered, and trying to explain to the people at Starfleet what the fuck had happened up there.

Bones knew Jim wasn't neglecting the sick; rather it was Jim's way of saying that he trusted Bones to take care of his shit. And when he finally arrived, he looked more tired and beat up than Bones had ever seen him, and that included that first morning when they'd met on that shuttle.

Jim glanced around the medical bay, frowning, and he gave Bones an empty sort of stare. "Can we talk?" he asked.

Bones nodded. He didn't want to leave, so they found a spot on the floor where Bones could see all the med beds, every damn one of them full with sick and injured. Bones proceeded to fill Jim in on the status of the patients, and the ones that hadn't made it. Jim told him about what was going on out there, with Starfleet, with the Vulcans, with the crew.

But there was something Bones had to know... "How did you get back here on board?" he asked, wondering all day how the kid had pulled that off. Jim closed his eyes, leaned against Bones and began to talk. Soon he was rambling, Bones listening incredulously to a story about ice monsters and transwarp beaming theories and another timeline and another Spock.

He listened until Jim finished talking, not moving an inch despite his arm falling asleep under Jim. "Unbelievable," was the only thing he could say, murmuring it into Jim's ear.

"Yeah," Jim nodded in agreement. "I wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't... hey," he sighed, cutting himself off as he rubbed his neck. "My head hurts a little, Bones," he told him. "Got anything here that's not gonna fuck with me?" he asked more serious than joking. "I can't afford any sort of weird side effects, not right now. That would be-"

"Inconvenient?" Bones asked, his eyes smiling even though the rest of him was too tired to joke. He knew the pain had to be excruciating for Jim to ask for medicine.

Jim apparently had more energy to spare. "You ass," he kicked at Bones' foot with his own and laughed, bruised and contused and beat to hell and back, but still he _laughed_ and hugged Bones, whose heart tightened in his chest at the sound.

 

It had been that moment when Bones had known, known that he would always be on Jim's ship. Yeah, they'd talked about it, flying around together, but really it was all in the hands of a few Starfleet officials, those people who would make decisions that would affect the course of their lives. But now, when there was a good chance that they'd be given a bit more leeway than your ordinary cadets, now he knew...

He wasn't leaving Jim, not ever.

Eventually Jim got quiet, went into that place in his head where he escaped to when he needed it. Bones didn't know what Jim was thinking but he had a pretty good guess - probably already back on board the ship, wondering what position he'd pull, wondering what planet they'd reach first, what intergalactic mess they'd be expected to solve. And all he could think about was Jim, who was so deep in his thoughts he hadn't realized they were back at his dorm.

"You walked me home," Jim joked.

"My mama raised a gentleman," Bones told him.

"That she did," Jim answered, reaching for the key pad. "You want to..."

He didn't get the chance to finish that. Bones reached for his hand, stopping him. Jim turned to Bones, opening his mouth to ask what was wrong when Bones leaned over and kissed him, soft, just catching his lower lip and _yes, there it was_. He felt Jim inhale softly in surprise before lifting one hand up to cup Bones' cheek as he tilted his head the other direction, their noses sliding against each other as he kissed back, deepened it, pulled him closer as his back hit the wall. For a long minute they just stood there and held on, Bones' tongue lightly tracing the inside of Jim's lip, kisses so slow they hurt.

When they pulled back, their foreheads still touching, both were flushed and out of breath, despite the lack of physical exertion.

"Are you ready for this?" Bones asked, knowing there was a lot behind those few words. If they were going to be on the same ship, it couldn't be just a game. This might be terrible timing; if they crashed and burned it would be five years of anger and resentment, and Jim _knew_ Bones, knew he couldn't do casual.

Jim's hands came up to Bones' shoulders, and Bones smiled as he looked into his eyes. He could see Jim's eyes looking back at him as if he were solving a problem, analyzing and plotting how to best accomplish this new task of his. "Yeah," he told him, "more than ready. You?" he asked, touching Bones' cheek. "Are you?"

Bones pretended to look like he was considering it, while wrapping his arms around Jim's waist. "I don't know," he drawled slowly. "It's a strange situation to be in. Might be-"

"Inconvenient?"

Bones chuckled. "Unpredictable?"

Jim grinned. "Impulsive."

"Incredible," Bones answered.

"That too," Jim said. "Want to stay?" he asked, his face hopeful.

"More than you can imagine," Bones admitted. "But my mama also told me not to put out on the first date."

Jim laughed, that incredible laugh that made his eyes crinkle at the corners. "Smart woman," he said, reaching over to give Bones another kiss. "Call me when you're done with your morning briefing," Jim said. "I want to know what happens."

"I will," Bones told him, one more lingering kiss before pulling back. _Yes, pulling back was the right thing to do_ , he reminded himself. Too important to rush - they'd waited this long to make sure this was it, another night wouldn't matter.

Bones made his way back to his own dorm, his mind wandering while his feet took him down the familiar path between Jim's housing quarters and his own. His mind played the 'what if' game - if he'd stayed at Jim's, what would they be doing now? Who's clothes would hit the floor first? What would Jim's skin taste like?

If he'd just stayed at Jim's... _No_ , he told himself. This _couldn't_ be a one-off; it had to mean more than that, he thought as he made his way to his dorm, where he'd spend the night alone in his room, tossing and turning and...

"So I was thinking," a voice called out from dark. Bones turned around quickly to see Jim standing near the entrance to the dormitory, slightly out of breath as if he'd run the whole way here. "What if this wasn't our first date?" he asked as he approached Bones. "I mean, if you wanted to be accurate, you've been feeding me and patching me up and generally taking care of my ass for three years now. That's gotta count for something, right?"

Throughout his life Jim just sort of appeared when he was needed most.

He shouldn't be surprised anymore, Bones told himself as he pulled Jim close to him, leaning in as Jim kissed his forehead... The kid just _knew_ when to show up.

Relieved, surprised, aroused - all those feelings and more welled up inside him as Bones followed Jim up the two flights of stairs to his room. He was wrong about one thing - they'd been taking care of _each other_ these last three years. He'd correct Jim tomorrow - right now, all that mattered was getting in that room and touching Jim.

Tapping his code on his keypad, he waited as the door opened, Jim looking back at him with a mix of anticipation and anxiety.

"Get in there," he told him, sighing as Jim walked past him and into his room. Pulling off his shirt, Jim dropped it on the floor and turned to Bones, flashing that smile before disappearing into the dark corner, toward Bones' bed.

 _Well, that answered one question_ , he told himself wryly as he closed the door behind him and headed toward Jim.

 

2009.07.06


End file.
